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Colombian Transportation and Urban Development Program Receives International Funding

11.15.13

Colombian Transportation and Urban Development Program Receives International Funding

WARSAW, POLAND, November 15, 2013 — A program run jointly by Germany and the United Kingdom that finances efforts to combat climate change announced here today that it will fund four nationally appropriate mitigation actions, or NAMAs, including a Transit-Oriented Development NAMA in Colombia, South America, that the Center for Clean Air Policy (CCAP) helped to develop.

The Colombia project will receive $20 million from the Germany-UK NAMA Facility, making it the first internationally funded transportation NAMA. The money will be used to implement the NAMA in cities across Colombia, promoting smart development around public transit to reduce the country’s growth in car-use, leading to cleaner air and more livable, walkable cities. CCAP will partner with Colombian Development bank FINDETER to manage the $20 million to deliver projects that encourage residences and commercial enterprises to locate around mass transit facilities, creating sustainable development, reducing poverty and increasing health benefits.

“The award is an important stepping stone in realizing the significant promise of NAMAs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Ned Helme, president of CCAP, who attended the award ceremony here. “NAMAs are win-win propositions because they encourage sustainable development and combat climate change in ways that help reduce poverty, improve the health of citizens and support private sector investment.”

Helme applauded the Germany-UK Facility for supporting the NAMA framework as a way to bring about transformational change by coupling policies and financial mechanisms to mobilize private investments in low-carbon technologies. He also encouraged other climate financing pathways, such as the emerging Green Climate Fund, to adopt a similar funding principle in order to build momentum for these win-win solutions.

CCAP looks forward to working with Colombian officials to begin implementing the NAMA.

Colombia’s transit-oriented development NAMA provides a comprehensive approach to fighting ever-increasing motor vehicle traffic and air pollution that chokes cities around the world. The project will focusdevelopment around transit stations and corridors, encouraging people to safely walk, live, work, shop and play without having to resort to car use. The key elements of transit-oriented development include high-quality pedestrian amenities such as parks and sidewalks, frequent public transit service and mixed-use development including retail, housing, commercial and recreational services. Empirical evidence and technical studies indicate that people drive 30-70 percent fewer kilometers in transit-oriented development neighborhoods than in more sprawling, car-oriented development.

This project is supported by the NAMA Facility on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) and the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

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Since 1985, the Center for Clean Air Policy (CCAP) has been a recognized world leader in climate and air quality policy and is the only independent, nonprofit think tank working exclusively on those issues at the local, U.S. national and international levels. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., CCAP helps policymakers around the world develop, promote and implement innovative, market-based solutions to major climate, air quality and energy problems that balance both environmental and economic interests.